Thunder
by Tophu
Summary: Toph and Aang spend some unexpected time together in a cave, and learn a valuable lesson. This is a Taang story.


**Thunder**

The sun had just set behind the mountains. As trees whistled softly in the wind, howls of wolf-cats could be heard in the distance. The whole of the forest was in peace. It contrasted the reality of the war raging just past its borders. Nature was serene, oblivious to the outside world. And in this peace, the Avatar and his companions settled down to camp.

Toph earthbended a small pit in the middle of the campsite. Sokka had gathered dry sticks and after a few attempts had a warm fire burning. Katara collected water from the stream nearby and used it to start boiling some fish that Sokka had caught earlier on the fire. Aang was off practising his newly learned earthbending skills in one of the small caves that dotted the forest landscape. No one spoke a word. Everyone was too busy with chores to have anything to say. It was only when Katara said, "Dinner's ready!" that the silence was broken.

"I caught those fish myself," said Sokka with pride.

Toph moaned. "Fish, again?" The young adventurers had had fish for the last four days, and everyone was getting tired of it.

"There isn't really anything else to eat..." said Katara.

"I saw some wandering quail-pigs scurrying through the forest earlier today!" objected Toph.

"Well maybe we would have something different if mister warrior-hunter here would hunt for something," said Katara sarcastically.

"I'll have you know," said Sokka, "those fish were hard to catch! I can't just prance up to some wild animal and expect it to co-operate with me, can I?"

Toph sighed. "Oh, whatever," she said. "I'll catch something tomorrow with my earthbending..."

The three sat down on an overturned tree by the fire and started to eat their fish.

"Wait. Where is Aang?" asked Katara.

"Knowing Aang, he probably is in some kind of trouble," replied Sokka.

"Seriously," said Katara.

"I told him to go practice in the cave just east of here," said Toph, "He needed some extra practice."

Katara looked worried, "He should be back for dinner..."

"You know what? I'll get Twinkle-Toes," said Toph as she rose out of her seat and stretched.

"Don't you want to finish your dinner?" asked Katara.

"No, no. I'm fine!" said Toph sarcastically. "My stomach isn't up for fish right now." As Toph walked out of the clearing and into the dense forest, Sokka grabbed her plate of fish and started gobbling them down.

As she walked, she felt the cool dirt beneath her bare feet. This ground was her key to sight. She felt the vibrations in the ground and could sense all around her: a squirrel-worm slithering across the ground, a turtle-duck family waddling across a path. Toph savoured the "sights" around her as she walked east towards the cave. As she walked, the temperature of the air grew colder.

"Odd," she said to herself. If she was not blind, she could have seen the dark clouds looming over head of her.

As Toph neared the cave she heard the sound of rock moving, crushing and splitting grow louder. She walked up to the mouth of the cave, she was about to shout for Aang, but before she could yell the words, a deeper, louder crash sounded. Thunder cracked through sky and the deafening noise echoed throughout the forest, shaking the ground and making Toph shaky and weak herself. It was like her acute feeling senses were exploding. She couldn't see anything for a moment.

She screamed and ran into the cave as fast as she could to get away from the awful sound. As she was running she collided with Aang and they both fell over onto the cave floor. Aang looked at Toph; she was violently shaking and her eyes darted back and forth though she could not see anything.

"What's wrong?" he said to Toph. "I heard a scream and I ran here as fast as I could. Probably a little too fast..."

Toph did not acknowledge the joke. She sat curled up into a ball shielding her ears from the thunder.

"Are you all right, Toph?" Aang sat down beside her and wrapped his arm around the shivering Toph's shoulders. The shaking eventually subsided as the thunder gave way to pounding rain.

"What was wrong, Toph?" asked Aang with a concerned look on his face. "I've never seen you act like this before."

"Th-th-the th-th-thund-der," was all she could manage.

"It's okay Toph; just take a deep breath. In and out. There we go!" Toph finally calmed down enough to speak.

She sighed. "Uh, Aang..."

"Oh!" he forgot that he had left his arm around her shoulders. He lay his arms by his side. "Sorry...

"Toph, I don't get it. Why are you so afraid of thunder?"

"Well, I..." she started. "Hey, I don't need to tell you anything. You need to come for dinner, and whether you are coming or not, I am leaving. She marched towards the cave opening and felt out what was outside. Rain pounded heavily onto the forest floor, turning it into sticky mud unsuitable for walking and "seeing" in. She marched back into the cave and sat herself grumpily down on an earthbended chair.

"It's okay to have fears, Toph," Aang told her. "Bravery isn't about fearing nothing." Toph pretended to ignore the airbender. "Bravery is the ability to confront those fears and not let them control you." Toph bent her head down to the ground. "And you are one of the bravest people I know..." A tear slid down Toph's face and landed onto the ground.

Aang walked towards her, hesitant at first, afraid she might use earthbending at him, but when she didn't, he was finally in front of her. Toph quietly cried. Aang reached out to her face and swept away a tear.

"Toph, don't you know?" said Aang. "You're beautiful! Inside and out."

Toph pushed his hand away and turned her back to him. "Shut up!" she continued to cry. What's wrong with me? thought Toph. I am never so babyish!

Aang waited a moment. He then walked back in front of her and gently moved her bangs back behind her ears revealing her face. Aang smiled.

"Toph, you are so beautiful! Why do you hide it?"

"My bangs have always been a refuge for me," she replied still breathless and with tear running down her cheeks. "If they can't see my face, they can't see the real me. I am not confident enough! By bangs are my security..." Her voice trailed off.

"Toph, this is just like the thunder; bravery is facing your fears." They sat in silence for a few minutes. Toph cried her eyes dry as Aang sat by her holding her tight. Toph eventually lifted her head up. Her tearstained cheeks glistened in the low light of the cave. Aang looked at her and smiled.

They stood up from the rock chair. Toph wiped her nose. There was an awkward silence. Aang turned in the direction of the mouth of the cave, suggesting that they should leave. Toph stood in place for a moment. "Aang..."

"Yes?"

Toph jumped into his arms and embraced him. Aang looked surprised for a moment but then hugged her back. They stood in that cave in a loving embrace. They both couldn't have been happier.

"We should go back," said Toph. "Shouldn't we?" She smiled her pretty smile and Aang smiled his quirky grin back.

"That's a good idea," he replied. "I am getting hungry!" The two laughed and walked out of the cave, hand in hand. They walked back through the forest.

Even though she couldn't see, everything felt brighter that night with Aang. When they reached the campsite, they saw Katara and Sokka preparing their sleeping bags.

"There you are!" said Katara, "I was worried about you two because of that storm!"

"We're all right. Twinkle-Toes and I just had to wait awhile for the storm to clear." Sokka and Katara didn't have any idea what was going on. Toph and Aang were smiling.

The moon shone brilliantly against the starry sky, and the trees swayed gently in the breeze and all was peaceful in this forest. Maybe the forest isn't oblivious to this chaos and destruction going on outside its borders. Nature might even be a little scared, but what is for sure is that if Nature did know about the war and was scared, it was going to confront the fear, not let it control it. Just like Toph had just learned.

Tophu


End file.
